June 19th

Encountering Peace: Unity, disunity and peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am From what I hear around the area, once again the reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas have re-entered the freezer. Just last week the parties announced that on June 20, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would be announcing a new transitional government supported by both movements without any direct or representatives of either. The task of the transitional government was to prepare new elections for president of the Palestinian Authority, the PA Legislative Council and the Palestinian National Council of the PLO. » Read more

Former Palestinian Prisoners Describe Life on the Outside ATFP World Press Roundup Article from As-Safir by Amjad Semhan - June 18, 2012 - 12:00am After 20 to 30 years of detention, how does a released Palestinian prisoner live his life? What kind of psychological situation does he face? After all those years, does he believe that he still has a future? » Read more

The good fence? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Nachman Shai - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am Afew days ago, Israel marked the 30th anniversary of the outbreak of the war initially “Operation Peace for the Galilee,” now known as the “First Lebanon War,” since it was recently followed by another one. With the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, the concept of the “Good Fence,” through which Israel had tried to good relations with Lebanon, collapsed. » Read more

No Arabs in Israeli Olympic Delegation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth by Erin Lahav - June 14, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli delegation to the Olympics in London will not include even one Arab athlete. Not that it’s been any better in previous years; only two Arabs have represented the country in Olympic Games to date. The Arab sector is convinced that this is due to discrimination, but the athletic establishment denies the accusations. » Read more

Hamas claims responsibility for rocket fire into Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 19, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas on Tuesday took responsibility for at least some of the rocket fire aimed at Israeli civilians Monday night, stating that it was responding to the killing of Palestinians in recent days. The IAF killed four Palestinian terrorists in the last 24 hours, at least two of whom were members of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group. » Read more

Hamas fires four rockets from Gaza into Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff, Yanir Yagna - June 19, 2012 - 12:00am The military wing of Hamas fired four rockets toward Israel overnight Monday, which landed in open areas and caused no casualties. Hamas claimed responsibility for the act. The rocket fire marks an unusual move for the group, which has been avoiding launching rockets toward Israel for many months now. Following the attack, communities near the Gaza border were put on heightened alert. The residents were given instructions to remain at a close distance to a bomb shelter. » Read more

A hybrid of peace and terror ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am There is something ironic about the situation in Sinai, a senior defense official said on Monday. Israel is officially in a perpetual state of war with Lebanon and Syria, but those are two of Israel’s quietest borders today. “Egypt, which we have peace with, is turning into our biggest problem,” the official said. » Read more

Israel, Palestine join forces in containing MRSA bacteria spreading ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 18, 2012 - 12:00am Amid a fresh round of hostilities along Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian scientists are continuing joint efforts to combat a potentially lethal bacterium that is spreading in Gaza City. The research group has recently identified a unique strain of Methicillin - resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), a particularly aggressive antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which has become common in Gaza, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on Monday. » Read more

Netanyahu slams 'price tag' attack on mosque near Ramallah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 19, 2012 - 12:00am Unknown vandals set fire to a mosque near Ramallah early Tuesday morning, damaging the structure, and sprayed Hebrew slogans against a pending evacuation at a disputed settlement neighborhood. "At one o'clock we heard screaming from the people of the village and realized the mosque was on fire," Jab'a Mayor Abdul Karim Sharaf said, according to The Jerusalem Post. "More than three hundred people awoke and we managed to put it out." » Read more

National-religious messianism is endangering Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am Every month I drive to Bar-Ilan University to tape four or five discussions with national-Religious Rabbi Uri Sherki that are posted under the title "The Rabbi and the Professor" (unfortunately there are no English subtitles so far). I do this because I believe that there is desperate need for dialogue between Israel’s liberals and the national-religious. We have come to the point where we live in universes so different that it is becoming questionable how these groups can ever cooperate fruitfully for a common future. » Read more